>> at this point in time in the campaign, the stakes are enormous for mitt romney. he is behind, you can argue by how much he's behind, is it as bad as it looks in some polls in places like ohio or florida, but the bottom line is he's behind. he needs to come out basically not just even in the presidential, but it needs to serve as a way to fire up his republican troops, it's going to keep republican candidates from fleeing him, it's going to keep big money people from fleeing him. a decisive win by president obama will only add to the momentum at this crucial time when we have early voting and you'll see a whole bunch of candidates running down the ballot running from mitt romney. >> chuck todd in our washington newsroom, thanks. >>> tomorrow is the first monday in october, that mean tsz supreme court begins it's new term, the court expected to decide on cases involving affirmative action, specifically the role of race in college admissions as well as voting rights and same-sex marriage. when nbc nightly news continues on this sunday evening, life on the front line